Document of
The World Bank
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Report No: ICR00006014
IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION AND RESULTS REPORT
Credit Number 5938-IN
ON A
CREDIT
IN THE AMOUNT OF US$235 MILLION
TO
India
FOR THE
Bihar Rural Roads Project
June 22, 2024
Transport Global Practice
South Asia Region
CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS
(Exchange Rate Effective December 31, 2023)
Currency Unit = Indian Rupee (Rs.)
Rs. 83.19 = US$1
FISCAL YEAR
April 1 – March 31
Regional Vice President: Martin Raiser
Country Director: Auguste Tano Kouame
Regional Director: Pankaj Gupta
Practice Manager: Jung Eun Oh
Task Team Leader(s): N. S. Srinivas
ICR Main Contributor: Ashini Samarasinghe
ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
AI Artificial Intelligence
AMP Asset Management Plan
AMS Asset Management System
BRRDA Bihar Rural Road Development Agency
BRRP Bihar Rural Roads Project
CPF Country Partnership Framework
DPR Detailed Project Reports
E&S Environmental and Social
ECoPs Environmental Codes of Practices
EIRR Economic Internal Rate of Return
EMF Environmental Management Framework
EOCC Economic Opportunity Cost of Capital
FM Financial Management
GoB Government of Bihar
GoI Government of India
GTSNY Grameen Tola Sampark Nischaya Yojana
HEIS Hands-on Expanded Implementation Support
IDA International Development Association
IFR Interim Financial Reports
MMGSY Mukhya Mantri Gram Sampark Yojana
MSME Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
MTR Mid-Term Review
NPV Net Present Value
OMMAS Online Management, Monitoring and Accounting System
OPBMC Output and Performance-Based Maintenance Contracts
PDO Project Development Objective
PIU Project Implementation Unit
PMC Project Management Consultant
PMGSY Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
PMU Project Management Unit
RSMP Road Sector Modernization Plan
RWD Rural Works Department
SMF Social Management Framework
TA Technical Assistance
VF Vulnerability Framework
VOC Vehicle Operating Cost
WBG World Bank Group
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DATA SHEET .......................................................................................................................... 1
I. PROJECT CONTEXT AND DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES ....................................................... 6
A. CONTEXT AT APPRAISAL .........................................................................................................6
B. SIGNIFICANT CHANGES DURING IMPLEMENTATION .............................................................. 10
II. OUTCOME .................................................................................................................... 12
A. RELEVANCE OF PDOs ............................................................................................................ 12
B. ACHIEVEMENT OF PDOs (EFFICACY) ...................................................................................... 13
C. EFFICIENCY ........................................................................................................................... 18
D. JUSTIFICATION OF OVERALL OUTCOME RATING .................................................................... 19
E. OTHER OUTCOMES AND IMPACTS (IF ANY) ............................................................................ 19
III. KEY FACTORS THAT AFFECTED IMPLEMENTATION AND OUTCOME ................................ 20
A. KEY FACTORS DURING PREPARATION ................................................................................... 20
B. KEY FACTORS DURING IMPLEMENTATION ............................................................................. 21
IV. BANK PERFORMANCE, COMPLIANCE ISSUES, AND RISK TO DEVELOPMENT OUTCOME .. 22
A. QUALITY OF MONITORING AND EVALUATION (M&E) ............................................................ 22
B. ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND FIDUCIARY COMPLIANCE ..................................................... 24
C. BANK PERFORMANCE ........................................................................................................... 25
D. RISK TO DEVELOPMENT OUTCOME ....................................................................................... 27
V. LESSONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................. 27
ANNEX 1. RESULTS FRAMEWORK AND KEY OUTPUTS ........................................................... 29
ANNEX 2. BANK LENDING AND IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT/SUPERVISION ......................... 39
ANNEX 3. PROJECT COST BY COMPONENT ........................................................................... 41
ANNEX 4. EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS ........................................................................................... 42
ANNEX 5. BORROWER’S COMMENTS ................................................................................... 47
ANNEX 6. SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS .................................................................................. 49
The World Bank
Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
DATA SHEET
BASIC INFORMATION
Product Information
Project ID Project Name
P155522 Bihar Rural Roads Project
Country Financing Instrument
India Investment Project Financing
Original EA Category Revised EA Category
Partial Assessment (B) Partial Assessment (B)
Organizations
Borrower Implementing Agency
India Rural Works Department, Bihar
Project Development Objective (PDO)
Original PDO
The PDO is to improve rural road connectivity in project districts, and enhance management of rural roads in Bihar.
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Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
FINANCING
Original Amount (US$) Revised Amount (US$) Actual Disbursed (US$)
World Bank Financing
235,000,000 153,000,000 147,972,220
IDA-59380
Total 235,000,000 153,000,000 147,972,220
Non-World Bank Financing
0 0 0
Borrower/Recipient 100,000,000 65,600,000 65,600,000
Total 100,000,000 65,600,000 65,600,000
Total Project Cost 335,000,000 218,600,000 213,572,220
KEY DATES
Approval Effectiveness MTR Review Original Closing Actual Closing
21-Dec-2016 31-Aug-2017 31-Dec-2022 31-Dec-2023
RESTRUCTURING AND/OR ADDITIONAL FINANCING
Date(s) Amount Disbursed (US$M) Key Revisions
22-Sep-2020 66.99 Cancellation of Financing
Reallocation between Disbursement Categories
23-Sep-2020 66.99
21-Mar-2022 101.26 Change in Results Framework
Change in Components and Cost
Cancellation of Financing
Reallocation between Disbursement Categories
Change in Legal Covenants
21-Dec-2022 132.00 Change in Loan Closing Date(s)
27-Jun-2023 136.11 Change in Loan Closing Date(s)
26-Dec-2023 146.01 Cancellation of Financing
Reallocation between Disbursement Categories
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Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
KEY RATINGS
Outcome Bank Performance M&E Quality
Moderately Unsatisfactory Moderately Satisfactory Modest
RATINGS OF PROJECT PERFORMANCE IN ISRs
Actual
No. Date ISR Archived DO Rating IP Rating Disbursements
(US$M)
01 26-Apr-2017 Satisfactory Satisfactory 0
02 22-Nov-2017 Satisfactory Satisfactory 6.21
03 22-May-2018 Satisfactory Satisfactory 38.77
04 10-Dec-2018 Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 49.72
05 08-Jun-2019 Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 57.75
06 10-Sep-2019 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 58.95
Moderately
07 27-Mar-2020 Moderately Unsatisfactory 62.15
Unsatisfactory
Moderately
08 09-Jun-2020 Moderately Unsatisfactory 64.18
Unsatisfactory
Moderately
09 02-Dec-2020 Moderately Unsatisfactory 69.06
Unsatisfactory
Moderately
10 07-Oct-2021 Moderately Unsatisfactory 90.91
Unsatisfactory
Moderately
11 19-Apr-2022 Moderately Unsatisfactory 101.26
Unsatisfactory
12 01-Dec-2022 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 132.00
13 28-Jul-2023 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 140.93
14 22-Dec-2023 Moderately Satisfactory Moderately Satisfactory 146.01
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Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
SECTORS AND THEMES
Sectors
Major Sector/Sector (%)
Transportation 100
Public Administration - Transportation 5
Rural and Inter-Urban Roads 95
Themes
Major Theme/ Theme (Level 2)/ Theme (Level 3) (%)
Economic Policy 95
Economic Growth and Planning 95
Green Growth 95
Private Sector Development 95
Jobs 95
Job Creation 95
Human Development and Gender 95
Gender 95
Urban and Rural Development 100
Rural Development 100
Rural Infrastructure and service delivery 100
5
Road Safety 5
Disaster Risk Management 45
Disaster Risk Reduction 45
Environment and Natural Resource Management 45
Climate change 45
Adaptation 45
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The World Bank
Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
ADM STAFF
Role At Approval At ICR
Regional Vice President: Annette Dixon Martin Raiser
Country Director: Junaid Kamal Ahmad Auguste Tano Kouame
Director: Pierre A. Guislain Pankaj Gupta
Practice Manager: Karla Gonzalez Carvajal Jung Eun Oh
Task Team Leader(s): Ashok Kumar N. S. Srinivas
Deegoda Gamage Ashini
ICR Contributing Author:
Iwanthik Samarasinghe
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The World Bank
Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
I. PROJECT CONTEXT AND DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES
A. CONTEXT AT APPRAISAL
Context
1. At appraisal, Bihar was one of the faster growing low-income states in India, with 34 percent of its
population living below the poverty line compared to a national average of 22 percent. About 90 percent of its
population of 104 million was rural and about 76 percent of the population in north Bihar was subject to the
recurring threat of floods. Bihar’s potential for growth in agriculture and agro‐based industries, tourism,
handicrafts, and cottage industries was underutilized due to inadequate road infrastructure and market
linkages.
2. About 60 percent of Bihar’s rural road network was unpaved and had several deficiencies, such as missing
links, dilapidated bridges or absence of bridges, inadequate geometry, poor drainage, weak pavements, and
missing road safety measures. The network had also suffered severe damages due to floods, lack of
maintenance, inadequate quality of initial construction, and overloading in some parts of the state. Inefficient
sector management was also identified as a key challenge. “Road connectivity to each habitation”, with a goal
of bringing all parts of the state within five hours of travel time from the state capital, Patna, was among
Government of Bihar’s (GoB’s) top seven priorities in 2016.
3. As part of GoB’s priority of “Road connectivity to each habitation”, about 60,000 km of rural roads (50
percent of the total rural road network in the state) were constructed in the preceding decade leading to 2016,
providing road access to 51 percent of its habitations. Several country and state level road development
programs were in place to rehabilitate the remaining road network and provide access to all habitations in the
state. The key programs were: (i) Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), the Government of India (GOI)
funded program to provide all‐weather road access to all habitations with a population above 500; (ii) Mukhya
Mantri Gram Sampark Yojana (MMGSY), the GoB funded program to provide road connectivity to habitations
with population in the 250‐499 range, which were not covered under PMGSY; and (iii) Grameen Tola Sampark
Nischaya Yojana (GTSNY), to connect habitations with a population below 250. The GoB’s rural roads program
was organized around three key priorities:
a. Priority One: All‐weather-road access to the remaining 49 percent habitations through the PMGSY
and MMGSY. The World Bank was engaged with PMGSY since its inception, through dialogue,
technical assistance (TA), and a series of lending operations.
b. Priority Two: Preserving existing road assets and upgrading them to acceptable standards. The road
sector worked with a traditional focus on building and rehabilitating roads, which resulted in
insufficient funds being directed for maintenance. Lack of planning and coordination with
stakeholders in the sector which led to top-down fund allocation as opposed to allocations based on
actual rehabilitation and maintenance needs to the road network, lack of an asset information
database to support network-wide prioritization of rehabilitation and maintenance investments, and
limited capacity within Rural Works Department (RWD) and contracting industry were other key
issues that limited adequate asset management in the road sector. In this context, the RWD adopted
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Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
a maintenance policy, under which performance-based maintenance contracts were introduced on
about 4,600 km of roads. The Bank supported RWD to prepare an Asset Management Plan (AMP) to
introduce a new road asset management approach to deliver consumer-based priorities, such as a
satisfactory level of riding quality and safety, at least cost over the long run.
c. Priority Three: Improved institutional effectiveness. Improve the pace and quality of delivery of
RWD’s road programs by improving the quality of engineering designs and asset management, value
for money, procurement performance, and by minimizing time and cost overruns. RWD required
enhancement to its traditional way of doing business, to improve its performance and cope with the
latest demands of both construction and maintenance. RWD’s business procedures were primarily
suited for small works and had not kept pace with the demands, latest developments and innovations
in the rural road sector. To this end, a Road Sector Modernization Plan (RSMP) was adopted by the
RWD, which covered, inter alia, strengthening the Road Sector Policy Framework, streamlining and
modernizing key business processes, climate resilient and cost‐effective engineering designs, and
rural road safety.
4. Rationale for the project and for World Bank support. This Project proposed to support the MMGSY
program by funding about eight percent of its planned road works and complementing it with knowledge
support to enhance the management of rural roads in Bihar. Bank support through the Project was expected to:
(i) help enhance the quality of delivery of MMGSY by introducing cost‐effective designs, road safety engineering
measures, improved quality of existing infrastructure, and better contract management practices to avoid time
and cost‐over‐runs; and (ii) help gradually transform RWD into a modern and high performing road agency
through knowledge support. The Bank was already engaged in the state’s road development program1,
particularly through its long-standing engagement in PMGSY. The Project design was informed by the results
and findings from these engagements and studies, for example, use of existing systems and procedure which
were used under PMGSY, use of the PMGSY bid document, five-year mandatory maintenance inbuilt in
construction contracts, and the use of the three-tier quality assurance mechanism. The Project provided an
opportunity to make use of the analytical base and understanding of the sector derived from the Bank’s ongoing
engagement in Bihar and enable the transfer of knowledge and coordination across different road programs in
the state.
5. Alignment with Higher Level Objectives. The Project was aligned with the World Bank Group’s (WBG’s)
goal of reducing poverty and promoting shared prosperity, and with WBG’s India Country Partnership Strategy
(2013‐2017) priority of supporting low‐income states through three themes: integration, transformation, and
inclusion. The Project was expected to better integrate the rural population, businesses, and industries in Bihar’s
remote and poorer districts with the national and state economy through better transport connectivity, as well
as through improved integration with the strategic transport corridors passing through Bihar. It envisioned a
transformational impact on rural poverty through the impact of improved road access on agricultural
productivity, higher non‐farm employment opportunities, and increased rural wages. The Project was also in
line with GoI’s development priorities at the time, which emphasized the development of rural roads to facilitate
inclusive growth, economic development, and access to markets.
Theory of Change (Results Chain)
1 Theseengagements included the road construction industry study, road safety action plan, road sector vision, process improvement studies for design and contract
management, road asset database for RWD under the U.K. Department for International Development Trust Fund support, and the Human Resources Professional
Development Strategy, in addition to a detailed assessment of PMGSY, AMP, and environmentally optimized road designs for rural roads.
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Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
Figure 1. Theory of Change
Assumptions
• Political commitment to implement institutional reforms under Component 2 Changes made through Restructuring 2
• Availability of adequate resources for infrastructure development Orange Dropped activities
BLUE New activities
PURPLE Revised activities
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Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
Project Development Objectives (PDOs)
6. The PDO, as stated in the Financing Agreement, was to improve Rural Roads connectivity in Project
Districts, and enhance management of Rural Roads in Bihar.
Key Expected Outcomes and Outcome Indicators
7. The achievement of the PDO was expected to be measured by the following outcome indicators:
a. Increased road connectivity to habitations (number)
b. Roads in good and fair condition as a share of total classified roads (percentage)
c. Improved effectiveness of project expenditure ‐ Project roads designed using cost‐effective measures
(percentage)
d. Improved asset management ‐ Number of districts that have developed and are using asset
management system (number)
Components
8. At appraisal the Project consisted of two components:
a. Component 1: Rural Roads Improvement (Allocation at approval: US$320 million; Actual cost at
completion: US$211 million). Construction and improvement of the state core network to improve
the road connectivity of target habitations under MMGSY (having a population of 250 - 499 in 2012)
in Project districts. It included:
• Sub-Component 1.1: Civil works for rural roads. Civil works for about 2,500 km of rural roads,
including standalone bridges. The road improvements would incorporate road safety measures
and environmentally optimized and climate resilient road designs.
• Sub-Component 1.2: Design, implementation, and management support. Supervision, quality
monitoring, and preparation of cost-effective and climate resilient designs.
• Sub-Component 1.3: Pilots on innovative bridge construction, retrofitting road safety and climate
resilience measures in the existing rural road network (identified under 2.1 and 2.3).
b. Component 2: Asset Management and Institutional Effectiveness (Allocation at approval: US$15
million; Actual cost at completion: US$3 million). Support the RWD to implement the RSMP through
the following:
• Sub-Component 2.1: Asset management. Implementation of AMP and development of an Asset
Management System (AMS); preparing plans for capital works and maintenance and development
of a GIS based road inventory and condition database; enhancing and expanding the use of
maintenance contracts for 20 percent of the core network (TA); climate vulnerability assessment
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Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
for roads and bridges and development of mitigation plans; and introduction of improved, low-
cost, innovative, environment friendly road and bridge designs to withstand flood related risks.
• Sub-Component 2.2: Institutional effectiveness. Implementation of the existing Human Resource
Professional Development strategy of RWD, which would include training of RWD staff &
contractors; procurement of equipment for RWD labs, offices, and training facilities; digitalizing
RWD business processes; development of the long-term rural roads strategy; updating technical
guidelines and manuals; and identifying measures to make the rural transport service in Bihar
more effective.
• Sub-Component 2.3: Road safety management. Training RWD staff, the local police and transport
departments, designing road safety measures, undertaking road safety audits of priority roads,
raising awareness among contractor staff, and development of the road safety module in AMS.
B. SIGNIFICANT CHANGES DURING IMPLEMENTATION
9. The Project was restructured five times, as summarized below:
a. Restructuring 1: September 22, 2020 – Cancellation of US$50 million from International Development
Association (IDA) financing as part of the overall COVID-19 response strategy to make funds available
immediately for pandemic response measures. The remaining funds were expected to be adequate
to complete the remaining activities, given the exchange rate gains from the depreciation of the Indian
Rupee against the United States Dollar and savings in the cost of civil works.
b. Restructuring 2: March 21, 2022 – Cancellation of US$27 million from IDA financing and revisions to
the project scope and indicators due to slow progress and low disbursements. The Project faced more
than a three-year delay in implementing activities under Component 2 (as discussed in Section III.B)
and reported little progress in activities under Sub-Component 1.3. The pandemic, and flash floods
which occurred in several districts also contributed to the slow progress in Project activities. The
restructuring was carried out to address these issues following the mid-term review (MTR).
c. Restructuring 3: December 21, 2022 – Extension of the credit closing date by six months from
December 31, 2022, to June 30, 2023, to enable the completion of the remaining works.
d. Restructuring 4: June 27, 2023 – Extension of the credit closing date by six months from June 30,
2023, to December 31, 2023, to enable the completion of the remaining works and identification of
potential savings for cancellation under the Project.
e. Restructuring 5: December 26, 2023 – Cancellation of US$5 million of savings from IDA financing.
Revised PDOs and Outcome Targets
10. The PDO has remained unchanged throughout the Project.
Revised PDO Indicators
11. The PDO indicators were revised through Restructuring 2 as summarized in Table 2 below.
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Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
Table 1. Changes made to the PDO Indicators through Restructuring 2
PDO Indicator at Appraisal Target at Changes made through Rationale for changes
Appraisal Restructuring 2
Increased road connectivity 62,000 Number of habitations Reduction in the scope of Component 1.1:
to habitations (number) reduced to 61,200 the length of road construction was reduced
from 2,500 km to 2,000 km due to time
constraints.
Improved asset 10 This indicator was The activity to develop an AMS was dropped
management ‐ number of dropped from the results at the request of GoB that the AMS is no
districts that have framework longer required as a state-wide rural road
developed and are using maintenance policy was introduced.
asset management system
(number)
Introduced a new Introduction of a new activity under
indicator: Pilot Artificial Component 2.1 to develop an AI System on a
Intelligence (AI) based pilot basis to monitor performance at least
system in districts within 100 km of project roads.
the state (number) with a
target of 1
Revised Components
12. The cancellation of US$27 million and lack of sufficient time remaining in the Project due to the significant
implementation delays led to the following changes in Project components under Restructuring 2:
a. Component 1: Rural Roads Improvement. (i) Allocation for this component was reduced from US$270
million to US$242 million due to the cancellation of IDA funds and the reduction in counterpart
funding. (ii) Scope of Sub-Component 1.1 was reduced from 2,500 km to 2,000 km, as it was estimated
that only about 2,000 km of roads could be completed by the original credit closing. (iii) Sub-
Component 1.3 was dropped due to lack of sufficient time in the Project to complete the original
scope.
b. Component 2: Asset Management and Institutional Effectiveness. (i) The allocation was reduced
from US$15 million to US$3 million due to the cancellation of IDA funds and the reduction in
counterpart funding. (ii) The development of an AMS under Sub-Component 2.1. was dropped as an
asset management system was not considered to be required because a rural road maintenance
policy was in place for all rural roads and was being adopted across the state. (iii) A new activity to
develop an AI system on a pilot basis to monitor the performance of roads was introduced under Sub-
Component 2.1. to help achieve the PDO. (iv) The scope of the climate vulnerability assessment under
Sub-Component 2.1 was reduced from 2,500 km to 500 km due to lack of sufficient time in the Project
to complete the original scope. (v) Minor changes were made to the scope of the proposed training
under Sub-Component 2.2 (reduction in target audience) due to lack of sufficient time in the Project
caused by the delayed start of Component 2.
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Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
Other Changes
13. Counterpart funding allocated to the Project was reduced from US$100 million to US$65.6 million over
the Project period.
Rationale for Changes and Their Implication on the Original Theory of Change
14. The scope of civil works was reduced due to lack of sufficient time remaining in the Project, which partly
stemmed from the delays faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and the flash floods. Activities to pilot innovative
bridge construction and retrofit road safety and climate resilience measures were dropped from the scope due
to insufficient time stemming from slow implementation progress as well as funding limitations following the
cancellation of US$50 million under Restructuring 1. The AMS was dropped due to two reasons: (i) a system was
deemed to be no longer required given the state’s maintenance policy (Bihar Rural Roads Maintenance Policy
2018) which mandates performance-based maintenance for every road that completes the stipulated five-year
routine maintenance period, and (ii) the introduction of an AI system by the state, which collects and digitally
stores road condition data and provides a platform to coordinate the rectification of identified defects, was
expected to serve a similar purpose of an AMS. Other changes under Component 2 were made due to time
constraints given the long implementation delays. These changes did not have a substantial impact on the
original Theory of Change. The removal of the key outcome target of introducing an AMS, which was the only
substantial change made to Project outcomes, was replaced by a new target to pilot a system which was
expected to deliver a similar impact.
II. OUTCOME
A. RELEVANCE OF PDOs
Assessment of Relevance of PDOs and Rating
15. At completion, the PDO is aligned with the priorities identified in the World Bank’s India Country
Partnership Framework (CPF) for FY18 – FY222. The PDO directly contributes to the achievement of Objectives
1.1 and 2.3 under Focus Areas 1 and 2 of the CPF: Objective 1.1 – promote more resource-efficient, inclusive,
and diversified growth in the rural sector; and Objective 2.3 – improve connectivity and logistics. Objective 2.3
specifically highlights the Bank’s commitment to support climate and disaster resilient roads. The PDO is also
consistent with the Bank’s engagement approach of strengthening public sector institutions through increasing
their capability and strengthening core government systems.
16. The PDO is also aligned with the development priorities of the GoI. GoI’s Strategy for New India@75 notes
that increasing the coverage and quality of roads and highways is critical to enhance connectivity and internal
and external trade. It identifies increasing connectivity by expanding the road network, improving road
maintenance and safety, skill development in the road sector, and increasing emphasis on research and
development as key priorities for the road sector. Furthermore, MMGSY, which the Project supported, was
2 A Performance Learning Review for the current CPF was being carried out at the time of the ICR preparation.
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Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
launched in 2013 by GoB with the aim of providing all-weather connectivity to rural habitations with population
more than 250. This program was built around the three key priorities as discussed under Section I.A, which
involved not only infrastructure improvement, but also improving institutional efficiencies in the road sector. A
case study3 carried out on the impacts of this program highlights that the demand for the road improvements
under this program has been overwhelming, given the challenges of transportation in Bihar. As such, the PDO
remains relevant to the GoB’s priorities in the sector as well.
17. Based on the above analysis, the relevance of the PDO to the current CPF for India and the priorities of
the GoI and GoB is rated as High.
B. ACHIEVEMENT OF PDOs (EFFICACY)
Assessment of Achievement of Each Objective/Outcome
18. Approach to assessing the achievement of PDOs. The PDO comprises two elements: (i) improve rural
road connectivity in Project districts; and (ii) enhance management of roads in Bihar. The first outcome is
assessed through the impact of road improvements on the beneficiary communities and the second outcome
by the Project’s impact in strengthening RWD’s capacity in managing roads in Bihar. A split rating is applied in
the evaluation of project efficacy due to following changes effected under Restructuring 2: (i) reduction of the
PDO 1 outcome target for “Increased road connectivity to habitations”; (ii) dropping of the PDO 2 outcome
target for “Improved asset management”; (iii) introduction of a new PDO 2 indicator “Pilot AI based system in
districts within the state”; and (iv) the 80 percent reduction in financing allocated to Component 2.
PDO 1: Improve rural road connectivity in project districts.
19. Key activities envisaged at appraisal were carried out during the Project, except for the reduction in the
number of kms of roads improved and the dropping of activities under Sub-component 1.3. The key impacts of
these activities are discussed below and the extent of achievement of the original and revised targets of PDO
and intermediate level indicators relevant to PDO 1 is provided in Table 2.
20. Improved living standards through better road connectivity. The Project rehabilitated 2200kms of rural
roads in Bihar, improving the connectivity of 1196 habitations and directly benefited about 838,240 people, 48
percent of which are women. Public consultations revealed that the roads now provide local farmers improved
direct access to markets, which helps them to bypass intermediaries and thereby reduce costs. The improved
quality of the road pavements also ensures uninterrupted access to critical social services, such as health care
and schools, which was earlier restricted during the rainy season as the roads became either muddy or were
damaged. An assessment carried out4 to identify the impacts of the road improvements under the Project
highlights that some communities have gained access to all-weather motorable roads for the first time,
substantially improving their connectivity and accessibility. The improved roads have increased school
attendance of students (of female students in particular) in some areas and have improved access to healthcare
facilities due to the availability of different transport modes (e.g., ambulances, private vehicles). The paved
roads have further improved accessibility for people with disabilities who can now commute using their
3Case Study on Benefits to Village Connected by the Project Road under MMGSY (RWD)
4Based on interviews of project beneficiaries of selected project roads which included students, farmers, women, RWD
officials, school teachers and government officials.
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motorized wheelchairs with ease. As most of the Bihar population lives in underdeveloped rural areas and one
third of its population is poor, improvement in access to basic services and economic opportunities can
contribute to economic development of these areas as well as reduce poverty in the long term.
21. The case study cited earlier on the impact of the GoB’s broader MMGSY program, which the Project
supported, further highlights the following benefits of improved road connectivity in the rural communities:
reduced travel times to markets, schools and healthcare services; increased enrollment of students in schools
(female students in particular); improved transportation of agricultural products with less wastage and shorter
time using better transport modes as opposed to walking or using carts; and improved access to bigger
agriculture markets.
22. Improved resilience of the road network through better maintenance. All project contracts included
provisions for five-year routine maintenance to ensure uninterrupted connectivity. On completion of the five-
year routine maintenance period, these roads will then be maintained under the GoB funded performance-
based maintenance contracts as per GoB’s Rural Roads Maintenance Policy. This practice, which is supported
by a state level policy, would help the long-term sustainability of the road network, as well as to reduce the
fiscal impact of road rehabilitation costs to the state in the long run. However, a more systematic approach is
required for the prioritization of roads for maintenance based on road condition and other technical criteria, as
opposed to a blanket time-based maintenance policy.
23. Achievement of PDO indicators. Road improvements under the Project increased the number of
connected habitations to 61,476, achieving 99 percent of the original target and slightly over 100 percent of the
revised target. The target of PDO indicator 1.2 “Roads in good and fair condition as a share of total classified
roads” was significantly exceeded for the entire state, even though the Project covered only selected districts.
As such, this achievement is not entirely attributable to the Project.
Table 2. Achievement of Output and Outcome Targets under PDO 1
Revised Actual as Actual Vs Actual Vs
Original
Indicator Baseline Target of Dec Original revised
Target
(Restruc 2) 2023 (Percent) (Percent)
PDO
1.1 Increased road connectivity to habitations
60,280 62000 61,200 61,476 99.15 100.45
(No.)
1.2 Roads in good and fair condition as a share
40 50 Unchanged 83 166.00 Unchanged
of total classified roads (Percent)
Intermediate
1.3 Roads constructed, Rural (Km) 0 2,500 2,000 2,200 88.00 110.00
1.4 Improved quality of built Infrastructure ‐
Project roads delivered with satisfactory
0 85 Unchanged 85 100.00 Unchanged
quality certified through independent quality
reviews (%)
1.5 Direct project beneficiaries (No.) 0 1,200,000 744,499 838,240 69.85 112.59
- Female beneficiaries (Percent) 0 48 Unchanged 48 100.00 Unchanged
PDO 2: Enhance management of roads in Bihar.
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Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
24. The original scope of activities for the achievement of PDO 2 was modified during the second restructuring
when development of the AMS was dropped, and piloting of the AI maintenance tool was introduced. The key
impacts of these activities are discussed below and the extent of the achievement of PDO and intermediate
indicators relevant to PDO 2 is provided in Table 3.
25. Introducing asset management practices in RWD. The Project contributed to introducing asset
management practices to RWD and promoting its use in road maintenance. The AMP developed under the
Project helped RWD identify the levels of service to be maintained for each road asset, the long-term financial
plan for the rehabilitation and maintenance of roads, an asset valuation methodology for different road assets,
human resource and capacity requirements for asset management, and requirements for an information
system. The state funded the development of an AI tool to prioritize routine maintenance in the state’s road
sector. The tool enables RWD to capture and digitally record (geo-tag) road conditions and take measures to
rectify defects through contractors, using a digitalized process that links the relevant parties in one platform.
The pilot inspected 1000 km of roads in Vaishali district and the RWD is planning to expand this system to the
entire network. While the tool was expected to serve a similar purpose of an AMS, in practice, it does not provide
the full benefits of a comprehensive AMS. It only captures road condition data and does not consider other
important criteria required for asset management such as traffic and crash data, connectivity, road structures
etc., and does not support prioritizing capital and maintenance expenditure based on a systematic methodology
considering such criteria. Furthermore, while the development of the AI tool was included as an activity under
the Project with a corresponding PDO indicator, it was not financed by Project funds. Therefore, the tool cannot
be attributed as a Project output.
26. Reduced cost of road rehabilitation with innovative pavement methods. The Project introduced two
innovative road paving methods to reduce costs: (i) use of waste plastic in flexible pavements; and (ii) use of
panel concrete in rigid pavements. These methods, which were used in more than 50 percent of the roads
improved under the Project, saved around US$4.8 million (INR40.34 crores or approximately about 2 percent of
the total cost) in road rehabilitation costs, and are now also being used in the MMGSY program.
27. Informed resilience management of the road network. A network level climate vulnerability assessment
was carried out under the Project for 500 km of rural roads in 10 flood prone districts to identify the climate
vulnerability of each road section based on the exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity of each road to the
projected climate hazards for the period 2020-2039. The study provides the RWD with: (i) a good basis to
prioritize road improvements / maintenance based on climate vulnerability; and (ii) measures to improve the
resilience and adaptation capacity of the road assets. The recommendations of the assessment are yet to be
implemented but are being considered by RWD.
28. Informed improvements in integrated transport and logistics service provision. A diagnostic study was
carried out to identify key transport and logistics challenges faced by selected micro, small and medium
enterprises (MSMEs) in Bihar and identify strategies to improve the transport and logistics network for their
development. The study identified key barriers in (i) supply chains – such as lack of warehousing facilities, cold
storage, poor quality roads, poor packaging; (ii) transport and logistics infrastructure – such as unpaved roads,
low road densities in some districts; (iii) logistics services – such as fragmented trucking industry, gaps in skilled
manpower, lack of automation; and (iv) policy and regulatory environment – such as lack of a state-wide policy
on logistics. The recommendations to address challenges in road infrastructure management include (i) the
development and improvement of transport infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and bypasses, and (ii) the
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Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
development of rural roads and first / last mile connectivity. The RWD has submitted the report to the Industry
Department for consideration of the recommendations to be implemented.
29. Informed road safety management. A Rural Road Safety Action Plan was developed identifying
interventions required to improve road safety under the following pillars: (i) Road Safety Management –
establishment of a rural road safety cell within RWD, setting up an rural road safety fund under Bihar Road
Safety Council, capacity building and public consultations for safer road designs, (ii) Safer Roads – integrating
road safety measures in the Detailed Project Report (DPRs), road safety audits at design stage, (iii) Safer Vehicles
– safety features for different types of vehicles on rural roads, (iv) Safer Road Users – promoting community
participation in identifying road safety issues, and increasing awareness, (v) Post-Crash Care – ensuring prompt
emergency response, training for paramedics and first responders. The project also developed Road Safety Audit
Checklists for different stages of road works in line with the Rural Road Safety Manual 2016 and the Manual on
Road Safety Audit and provided training to DPR consultants on incorporating road safety measures in DPRs.
These were complemented by the GoB’s road safety policy, which mandates road safety audits for all roads in
the state that are longer than five kms.
30. Improved capacity and knowledge management. 415 RWD staff were trained on road management,
including asset management, output and performance-based maintenance contracts (OPBMC), climate
vulnerability assessments, cost-effective road designs, innovative pavement methods, bridge design, road
safety, and the use of IT in road management. Guidance notes were developed on use of OPBMC, road safety
management, procurement, and contract management. However, the structured approach to strengthening
institutional capacities through the adoption of the Human Resources Professional Development Strategy did
not materialize as envisioned by the Project.
31. Achievement of PDO indicators. The pilot AI tool was developed and implemented in one district using
GoB funds for its development (PDO 2.3). The Project implemented cost-effective road rehabilitation measures
in 52.54 percent of the road lengths under the Project (PDO 2.2), achieving 105 percent of the original target.
While the roads subject to planned maintenance contracting (PDO 2.4) significantly exceeded the original target,
the achievement cannot be fully attributed to the Project as it includes roads beyond the Project scope and its
implementation was mostly driven by the GoB’s maintenance policy.
Table 3. Achievement of Output and Outcome Targets under PDO 2
Actual Actual
Revised Actual Vs
Original as of Vs
Indicator Baseline Target revised
Target Dec Original
(Restruc 2) (Percent)
2023 (Percent)
PDO
2.1 Improved effectiveness of project expenditure ‐
0 50 Unchanged 52.54 105.08 Unchanged
Project roads designed using cost‐effective measures (%)
2.2 Improved asset management ‐ number of
districts that have developed and are using asset 0 10 Dropped 0 0.00 Dropped
management system (No.)
2.3 Pilot AI based system in districts within the state (No.) 0 N/A 1 1 N/A 100.00
Intermediate
2.4 Length of roads subject to planned maintenance
4,600 10,000 Unchanged 45,420 454.20 Unchanged
contracting (Km)
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Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
2.5 RWD staff received at least six (6) weeks of
professional training during the entire project duration 0 400 200 415 103.75 207.50
(No.)
2.6 Effective Citizen Feedback Mechanism (%) 0 85 Unchanged 100 117.65 Unchanged
2.7 Network level climate vulnerability assessment
0 2000 500 500 25.00 100.00
undertaken with special focus on floods (Km)
2.8 Gender‐based capacity enhancement (No.) 0 30 18 91 303.33 505.56
2.9 GIS based road and bridge inventory and condition
database (including videography) established in project 0 50 Dropped 0 0.00 Dropped
districts (%)
2.10 Road Safety improvement scheme related audits
0 2000 Unchanged 204 10.20 Unchanged
undertaken on priority roads (Km)
Justification of Overall Efficacy Rating
Original Project
32. PDO 1: Improve rural road connectivity in project districts. The Project substantially achieved PDO
indicator 1.1 (Increased road connectivity to habitations) and contributed significantly to improve living
conditions of the rural communities in the state by providing sustainable connectivity and better accessibility to
critical social and economic services. However, Project did not achieve the originally envisaged targets for length
of roads improved and the number of beneficiaries. Considering the above, achievement of PDO 1 is rated
“Substantial”.
33. PDO 2: Enhance management of roads in Bihar. The Project had a substantial impact in introducing cost
efficiencies in road improvement, and the target of the number of RWD staff receiving training was exceeded.
The groundwork for informed resilience management of the road network and improvements in integrated
transport and logistic service provision has been laid, however, implementation is yet to begin. The network
level vulnerability assessment was substantially underachieved. The Project was unsuccessful in implementing
the AMS, which was a key institutional improvement envisaged under the Project. Considering the above, the
achievement of PDO 2 is rated “Modest”.
34. Based on the above, the efficacy of the original Project is rated Modest.
Restructured Project
35. PDO 1: Improve rural road connectivity in project districts. The Project benefited more communities
(PDO 1.1) and beneficiaries (intermediate indicator 1.5) than envisioned in the restructured scope through road
improvements, along with the significant benefits created as discussed above. The achievement of PDO 1 is
therefore rated “High”.
36. PDO 2: Enhance management of roads in Bihar. The PDO 2 is assessed based on the following
considerations, in addition to the discussion under the original Project. As discussed under Section 1.B, the AMS
was dropped from the Project due to the state’s maintenance policy and the introduction of the AI tool which
was expected to support asset management practices of RWD. However, the tool falls significantly short of a
full-fledged AMS and thus, does not provide the expected benefits to improve asset management in the road
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sector. Furthermore, given that the tool was not funded through the Project, the benefits of the tool are not
attributable to the Project. While the state’s maintenance policy is being implemented, it only prescribes a basis
for budget allocations for maintenance on a time-based methodology without considering road condition and
other key technical criteria and does not guide a systematic road investment prioritization. Thus, the Project’s
expected outcomes related to improving asset management were not fully realized. Furthermore, the Project
achieved the reduced targets for completing network level vulnerability assessments, however, the
recommendations are yet to be implemented. It exceeded the reduced targets for staff training, and gender-
based capacity assessment, however, fell short of institutionalizing a structured approach through the
implementation of the Human Resources Professional Development Strategy as envisaged. The achievement of
PDO 2 is therefore rated “Modest”.
37. Based on the above discussion, the efficacy of the restructured Project is rated Substantial.
C. EFFICIENCY
Assessment of Efficiency and Rating
38. The ex-post economic analysis found that the Project remained economically viable at completion, with
an Economic Internal Rate of Return (EIRR) slightly above the rate at appraisal. The EIRR at appraisal was 15.1
percent and the rate at the completion is 15.9 percent. The Net Present Value (NPV) discounted at 6 percent is
positive for the project. Table 4 provides the comparison of these values at appraisal and completion and Annex
4 provides further details of the analysis.
Table 4. Comparison of Results of the Economic Analysis
Details Total Road length (Km) EIRR (%) ENPV discounted at 6% (INR Mn)
At appraisal 2,500 15.1 13,490
At completion 2,200 15.9 13,527
39. Reduction in per km cost of road improvements was a key driver of efficiency of the Project. As discussed
in the efficacy section the low-cost paving methods introduced in the Project led to substantial cost savings. This
also enabled the Project to improve around 200km of additional roads beyond the expected target of 2000km
at Restructuring 2, despite the cancellation of US$27 million from the credit. Around US$5 million of funds
remained unutilized at the end of the Project and were duly cancelled. The cost comparisons are provided in
Table 5.
Table 5. Comparison of Project Cost
Detail At appraisal (2016) At completion (2024) Change %
Project coverage (Km) 2500 2200 -12.00
Cost / Km (US$) 1 104,478 99,195 -5.06
US$1 = 67 INR (at 2016 cost)
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40. Project activities took 12 months longer to complete than the originally expected timeline, despite the
reductions in scope. The Project closing date was extended twice to enable the completion of civil works that
were delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, flash floods, and the procurement delays during early years
of implementation. Initiation of activities under Component 2 was delayed by over three years, due to capacity
constraints, staff turnovers and prioritization of civil works. Other factors which affected the design and
implementation efficiency of the Project are discussed in Section III.
41. Even though the Project faced some implementation delays, considering the economic benefits created
and the substantial cost efficiencies generated, efficiency of the Project is rated Substantial.
D. JUSTIFICATION OF OVERALL OUTCOME RATING
42. The overall outcome rating of the Project is Moderately Unsatisfactory based on the split rating method,
as summarized in Table 6.
Table 6. Overall Outcome Rating: Summary of the Split Rating
Original Project Restructured Project
Relevance of PDO High
Efficacy of PDO Modest Substantial
PDO 1 Substantial High
PDO 2 Modest Modest
Efficiency Substantial
1 Outcome ratings Moderately Unsatisfactory Moderately Satisfactory
2 Numerical value of the outcome ratings* 3 4
3 Disbursement (US$ million) 101.26 46.64
4 Share of disbursement (Percent) 69.4 31.5
5 Weighted value of the outcome rating (2*4) 2.08 1.26
Moderately Unsatisfactory
6 Final Outcome rating
(2.08+1.26=3.32 rounding to 3)
*Note: Highly Unsatisfactory (1); Unsatisfactory (2); Moderately Unsatisfactory (3); Moderately Satisfactory (4); Satisfactory (5);
Highly Satisfactory (6)
E. OTHER OUTCOMES AND IMPACTS (IF ANY)
Gender
43. The Project provided training to 91 female staff of RWD (22 percent of total 415 staff trained). Public
consultations indicated that the Project helped: (i) improve women/girls’ access to schools and higher education
opportunities leading to an increase in attendance of female students in schools, and (ii) provided women better
access to health care services through better accessibility of ambulances, resulting in childbirths at health care
institutions, rather than at home.
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Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
Institutional Strengthening
44. Institutional strengthening is a PDO element: Enhance management of roads in Bihar. The extent of
achievement of this objective is discussed in the Efficacy section.
Mobilizing Private Sector Financing
45. As the project was primarily involved in the rehabilitation of low volume rural roads, the scope for
mobilizing private capital was limited. Private contractors were, however, awarded contracts, which included
both construction/rehabilitation and five years of maintenance.
Poverty Reduction and Shared Prosperity
46. PDO 1: Improve rural road connectivity in Project districts contributed to benefiting the rural poor in the
Project districts, as discussed in the Efficacy section.
Other Unintended Outcomes and Impacts
47. The introduction of the system of Janata Durbars (peoples’ gatherings) was an impactful achievement of
the Project in engaging communities in Project activities, ensuring that their concerns were addressed, and in
creating community ownership of the road assets improved under the Project. These community gatherings led
by the implementing agencies were held once a month. Citizens’ grievances were recorded, and commitments
were made by the implementing agencies to address grievances as per agreed timelines. Citizens’ feedback on
the extent of their satisfaction with the complaint resolution / grievance redressal mechanism, as well as their
suggestions on the designs and alignments of project roads were also considered and acted on. The meetings
were video recorded, and minutes of these meetings were maintained. Over time, the system contributed to
improving citizens’ trust in the implementing agencies, leading to speedier Project implementation. RWD
intends to replicate the system for all its projects and schemes.
III. KEY FACTORS THAT AFFECTED IMPLEMENTATION AND OUTCOME
A. KEY FACTORS DURING PREPARATION
48. Project design had a clear rationale for the proposed activities. The majority of the activities under each
component built on ongoing efforts and were presented with a clear justification. Rehabilitation of rural roads
was a priority GoB program, and the roads were selected from the state core road network based on the
habitations and linkages. Innovative and climate resilient technologies were proposed given the state’s
vulnerability to floods as well as high material costs. Institutional strengthening activities were proposed to
complement and / or take forward the identified activities under the RWD’s RSMP.
49. Readiness for implementation. At approval, contracts for over 40 percent of the planned road length
were in the process of being awarded and technical designs were being prepared for another 22 percent. The
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Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
draft asset management plan, human resources development strategy and the road safety action plan had been
developed to initiate Component 2 activities.
50. Implementation arrangements were geared to the sustainability of project interventions. The Project
was designed to use the existing government arrangements for implementing the MMGSY road program to
ensure that enhancements introduced under the Project would be absorbed in the broader program of the
state.
B. KEY FACTORS DURING IMPLEMENTATION
Factors generally subject to the control of government and/or implementing entities
51. Capacity constraints of the implementing agency, design consultants and contractors. The quality of
work in the first batch of contracts was affected by the inadequate technical skills of the design consultants and
RWD, as well as the weak contractor capacity. The DPRs developed for the first batch of contracts lacked proper
culvert analysis and design, road safety measures (e.g., guardrail, traffic calming, and junctions), and effective
cost saving measures. The technical audit carried out on the completed roads in this batch of contracts
highlighted the lack of drains, poor riding quality, edge breaking, and pavement cracks. RWD intends to
implement the corrective measures recommended by the audit in the identified road sections.
52. Capacity gaps also affected the management of the Project’s environmental and social (E&S) safeguards.
Until the MTR of the Project, the RWD did not have E&S specialists with the required skills and experience to
ensure effective management of E&S issues and compliance with the Project’s safeguard’s instruments.
Reporting on safeguards compliance and grievance redressal remained an issue during the first half of the
Project, despite trainings provided by the Bank. In late 2020, the Project hired a firm to manage the Project’s
E&S safeguards compliance and from mid-2021, safeguards management and compliance improved, and the
Project began reporting more regularly on safeguards.
53. Shortage of staff assigned to manage the Project. The RWD staff and the Project Management
Consultants (PMC) assigned to manage the Project were also responsible for managing other projects
implemented by the RWD (such as MMGSY, PMGSY and maintenance of the road network), and could not fully
commit their time to the Project. In addition, the change of the Project Director who was involved in project
preparation resulted in a lack of accountability for, and ownership of, some Project activities during
implementation, especially under Component 2.
54. Significant delays in implementing Component 2 activities. The implementation of Component 2
activities was delayed by over three years due to capacity constraints in the implementing agency, prioritization
of civil works, and lack of strong commitment from the implementing agency which was partly due to the
changes in Project staff who were engaged in the early stages of the Project. The delay in engaging a PMC to
manage the component as envisaged at preparation also contributed to further delays. The activities were
initiated after a dedicated PMC was engaged in 2020.
55. Small-value contract packaging. Civil works contracts were packaged either by a single road section or in
small-value packages resulting in around 600 contracts (most of which were less than US$1 million in value,
while some were less than US$0.5 million in value). This strained the procurement and contract management
capacity and also led to cost and time overruns.
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Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
56. Procurement delays. The award of contracts for the subsequent batches of roads faced delays of over
two years, caused by, inter alia, delays in finalizing the list of roads (which required various approvals within the
Government), delays in reaching agreement between the Bank team and RWD on the innovative pavement
methods to be used, and delays in inputs from the Bank team to finalize technical designs and in finalizing
technical designs, and weak response from the market which led to several rounds of rebids. Nevertheless, all
planned contracts were signed around two years before Project closure.
Factors generally subject to World Bank control
57. Supervision and reporting. Periodic progress reviews, close monitoring of disbursements, and
implementation support missions helped address the challenges in project implementation. The Project MTR5
recommended that the Project be restructured to address the long delays in Component 2 implementation, by
focusing on activities that could be completed by the Project closing date. This resulted in Restructuring 2, as
discussed in Section B. The Bank’s supervision efforts and quality of reporting are discussed in Section IV.C.
58. Cancellations and restructurings. The Project was restructured five times as discussed in Section B. A total
of US$82 million of the original credit was cancelled and the Project scope was revised due to slow progress and
low disbursements. The credit closing date was extended in two stages for a total of 12 months to enable the
completion of planned civil works.
Factors generally outside the control of government and/or implementing entities
59. The COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic during 2020 – 2022 resulted in implementation delays
in civil works due to restrictions in mobility and the closure of project sites for several months.
60. Flash floods. Flash floods that occurred in several districts in 2021 affected the progress of civil works.
IV. BANK PERFORMANCE, COMPLIANCE ISSUES, AND RISK TO DEVELOPMENT OUTCOME
A. QUALITY OF MONITORING AND EVALUATION (M&E)
M&E Design
61. The retrofitted Theory of Change developed at the second restructuring clearly identifies the Project’s
causal chain to achieve expected outcomes and the indicators are mostly relevant to the scope with some
gaps. The indicators introduced in the original project are well defined, the baselines were clearly identified,
and the targets were clearly defined. The methodologies for monitoring and data collection were simple and
utilized the existing Management Information System (MIS) of the RWD. Responsibilities for reporting on
progress towards achieving indicator targets were clearly identified. However, as discussed below, the
indicators displayed some weaknesses in relation to measurability, attributability and in assessing Project
impact.
5 The MTR was carried out during January 27-29, 2021.
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a. Measurability. The PDO indicator “Roads in good and fair condition as a share of total classified
roads” was difficult to measure due to the difficulties in collecting data given the different
institutions responsible for managing roads in Bihar and challenged in defining the applicable
geographical area.
b. Attribution. The above PDO indicator and the intermediate indicator “Length of roads subject to
planned maintenance contracting” were defined to consider roads in the entire state, impacts on
while the project was only implemented in selected road sections.
c. Assessing project impact. The M&E design included indicators that adequately captures
achievement of PDO 1. The Project would, however, have benefited by including a beneficiary
satisfaction indicator to assess the impact of the improved roads based on beneficiary feedback.
The original and post-restructuring PDO indicators to assess PDO 2 were output oriented and did
not adequately capture impacts envisioned by PDO 2: (i) the original PDO indicator “Improved
asset management” measured the number of districts that had developed and were using an
asset management system, while the PDO indicator introduced at the second restructuring “Pilot
AI based system in districts within the state” assessed the number of districts, and not their
impact; and (ii) the PDO indicator “Improved effectiveness of project expenditures” assessed the
percentage of Project roads designed using cost‐effective measures, but not cost savings.
M&E Implementation
62. Progress in achieving indicator targets was reported through quarterly progress reports submitted by
RWD and progress reviews during missions. The Management Information System of the RWD was utilized for
reporting on progress, as envisioned; however, quarterly progress reports were not provided regularly. An excel
sheet-based monitoring mechanism was used to monitor progress of civil works and disbursements. The RWD
submitted the MTR report with a detailed review of the progress of Component 1 and status of activities under
Component 2.
63. There were some deficiencies in the reporting of a few indicators. The intermediate indicator “Road
Safety improvement scheme related audits undertaken on priority roads” was reported on state roads where
safety audits were carried out, rather than on project roads6. The intermediate indicator “Improved quality of
built Infrastructure ‐ Project roads delivered with satisfactory quality certified through independent quality
reviews” was measured through the state’s own quality monitoring system, rather than through independent
reviews. However, a separate technical audit was later carried out to assess the quality of road works under the
first batch of contracts.
M&E Utilization
64. The M&E data were utilized to inform Project progress monitoring, and in determining the changes
needed to the scope, as part of the various restructurings. These included the savings in the credit to be
6 This was rationalized in the last progress reporting and correct numbers relating to project roads have been reported in the
ICR.
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addressed through cancellations, extensions to the credit closing date to complete the project and changes to
the scope of Component 2.1 on asset management.
Justification of Overall Rating of Quality of M&E
65. The overall quality of M&E is rated Modest, based on the above discussion of M&E Design,
Implementation and Utilization.
B. ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND FIDUCIARY COMPLIANCE
66. Environmental and Social Safeguards. The Project was classified as Category B and triggered the following
Bank safeguard policies: Environmental Assessment (OP/BP 4.01); Physical Cultural Resources (OP/BP 4.11);
Indigenous People (OP/BP 4.10); and Involuntary Resettlement (OP/BP 4.12). Safeguards management was
guided by the Environmental Management Framework (EMF), Environmental Codes of Practices (ECoPs), Social
Management Framework (SMF), and a Vulnerability Framework (VF), which were prepared and disclosed by the
project.
67. Environmental Compliance. The Project reported several shortcomings in environmental management
during the first half of implementation: (i) delays in reporting environmental screening data for the roads; (ii)
inadequate monitoring and reporting of implementation of environmental management aspects; (iii) capacity
constraints in managing environmental safeguards. These issues were addressed in the latter half of the Project
and the management and compliance of environmental safeguards improved with the mobilization of an
environmental safeguards specialist to the Project.
68. Social Compliance. The Project did not involve any land acquisition or involuntary resettlement. Social
risks and adverse impacts were largely temporary, site specific and manageable through the instruments
developed during preparation. As discussed under Section III.B, safeguards management remained weak during
the first half of the Project due to the lack of adequately skilled and experienced staff. The hiring of a firm to
support E&S activities, helped improve safeguards management of the Project in the latter half of the project.
The Project reported instances of OP 4.12 non-compliance in two sub-projects; road alignments (culverts and
small bridges) in these two sub-projects inadvertently passed through small linear parcels of private land. These
were addressed by the project under the guidance of the Bank, through consultations with villagers and
subsequent changes in alignments to avoid encroachment on private lands. As discussed in Section III.B and
Section IV.C, the Project also faced issues in reporting on grievances in the early stages, which were later
resolved following the introduction of Janta Darbars.
69. Financial Management (FM). The Project complied with the Bank’s FM guidelines and procedures. The
FM performance ratings were mostly Moderately Satisfactory during project implementation. Annual project
budgets were adequately and timely provided by GoB and there were no substantial delays in the flow of funds.
Bihar Rural Road Development Agency (BRRDA), through which RWD implemented the Project, used a
computerized accounting software to account for project expenditures and submitted Interim Financial reports
(IFRs) regularly. BRRDA engaged a consultant under the project to roll-out / operationalize a newer version of
the accounting software in all District PIUs to efficiently manage FM functions, including timely consolidation of
accounts and preparation of year-end entity financial statements. This activity could not be completed during
the project period, and BRRDA has agreed to utilize GoB funds to complete this activity after project closure.
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There were delays in conducting internal audits of the project due to delays in the appointment of internal
auditors. The Project external audits were submitted to the Bank within the due date of December 31 every
year. The audit opinions were ‘unmodified’ and no significant accountability or internal control issues were
noted by the auditor. The external audit report for the final year of the Project (i.e., FY23-24 for the period April
01, 2023, to December 31, 2023) is required to be submitted by BRRDA to the Bank by December 31, 2024.
70. Procurement. Procurement under the Project consisted mainly of civil works, with a few consultancies
and a small number of goods / non-consultancy services contracts. A Procurement Plan was created in STEP
and was updated regularly. Bank procedures were duly followed, and Bank documents were used for all
procurements. At times there were delays in procurement and there were some cases of rebidding; however,
almost all planned procurements were completed during the first three years of the Project. There was a delay
in the completion of most civil work contracts due to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, all packages were
completed during the extended project period. There were some delays in updating STEP because of the
numerous implementing offices in the state. Overall, the Project managed procurements in line with Bank
systems and procedures.
C. BANK PERFORMANCE
Quality at Entry
71. The Project was strategically relevant and government commitment was secured at entry. As discussed
under Section III.A, the Project built on the ongoing activities in the state under the GoB’s broader MMGSY
program and existing sector development plans, with an aim to bring in value from the Bank’s experience in the
sector in India and globally as well as in the country. The development objectives were strategically aligned with
the sector requirements and the government’s development plans. The key plans for asset management, human
resource development and road safety improvement were developed and approved by GoB during preparation.
72. Risks were adequately identified; however, the mitigation measures were not sufficient. The Project
identified technical design and institutional capacity as substantial risks. Although mitigation measures were put
in place to address staffing gaps through the engagement of a PMC and technical skills through capacity
enhancements provided by local and international experts, they were not adequate. The capacity of the
construction industry was adequately assessed as being less developed. The Project would have benefitted from
including targeted capacity enhancement activities in the design and with better contract packaging (i.e., larger
package sizes) to make contract management more efficient.
73. Capacity enhancement of implementing agencies was given adequate consideration during
preparation, including workshops and trainings by international experts on innovative technologies and on the
use of local materials in rural road construction, support from consultants on the rehabilitation of bridges, and
study tours to Japan and UK on climate resilience and disaster risk management in the road sector. A
procurement capacity assessment was carried out and the required trainings were provided at appraisal.
74. An institutional assessment was carried out to inform the activities under Component 2 of the Project.
The study identified actions required to improve business practices of the implementing agency in areas such
as planning and project preparation, funding, procurement, and project monitoring. It also assessed the Online
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Management, Monitoring and Accounting System (OMMAS) used by the BRRDA and provided
recommendations to further improve the system.
Quality of Supervision
75. Implementation support was provided through regular missions, support from technical consultants,
and workshops / trainings. The Bank supported project implementation through eight missions, complemented
by technical visits and virtual discussions. The Bank provided substantial support to improve the quality of the
DPRs for the road packages; the RWD was introduced to a DPR compliance tool to supplement owner-level DPR
reviews for future PMGSY/MMGSY projects. Procurement support was provided to familiarize the implementing
agency with the Bank’s procurement procedures as well as with the STEP system and substantial handholding
support was provided to the implementing agencies on safeguards compliance and management through
support from technical consultants and several workshops (see details in Section III.B).
76. Significant efforts were made by the Bank to introduce and mainstream the concepts and good practices
of asset management in the road sector and to retain the original activities around asset management to ensure
the achievement of the expected development outcome. In addition to continuous efforts by the task teams,
there was high level engagement from the Bank management to sensitize the decision makers of the
government of the benefits and importance of institutionalizing asset management in RWD.
77. The Bank could have been more proactive in addressing the long implementation delays in Component
2. The long delay in Component 2 implementation largely stemmed from inadequate capacity and a lack of
strong commitment / ownership from the implementing agency which resulted in prioritization of civil works.
While increased efforts by the Bank to provide more support through technical consultants and close follow ups
helped expedite implementation in the latter part of the Project, the Bank could have been more proactive in
providing more support to the implementing agency at an earlier stage or to restructure the Project earlier to
change the scope as appropriate.
78. Bank intervention made a significant difference in the management and reporting of grievances. The
Meri Sadak app, originally used for grievance reporting in the Project, was not successful in recording grievances
due to the poor literacy levels in the state, lack of access to smartphones, and lack of awareness on the existence
of the app. The Bank guided the Project to have regular community meetings at the Panchayat level. The Janta
Darbar system introduced by the Project helped increase community engagement and reporting on grievances
under the Project.
79. Implementation and disbursement progress was closely monitored, issues were candidly discussed and
agreed actions were closely followed up. Project progress, challenges and problems were candidly discussed in
mission Aide Memoires, Management Letters and ISRs. Appropriate measures and interventions to address the
challenges were recommended through the missions. Close monitoring of the achievement of results and
disbursements appropriately informed the cancellations and restructurings. The Bank team consisted of a mix
of staff and consultants based in the country office, in Washington, and in the region. This enabled close follow
up and quick response to implementation challenges. The local staff’s knowledge of the country and state
context contributed to the quality of implementation support.
Justification of Overall Rating of Bank Performance
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80. Based on the above discussion on the quality of the Bank’s engagement at entry and during supervision,
Bank performance is rated Moderately Satisfactory.
D. RISK TO DEVELOPMENT OUTCOME
81. The development outcomes of the Project are likely to be sustained, although there are some risks.
GoB’s commitment to carrying forward the key infrastructure and operational improvements supported by the
Project is demonstrated by the following: (i) the plan to expand the AI maintenance system to the entire
network, potentially with more features on asset management; (ii) the introduction of the Bihar Rural Roads
Maintenance Policy in 2018 mandating performance-based maintenance for roads completing five-year routine
maintenance; (iii) the state policy on Road Safety, which mandates road safety audits for every road section that
is longer than five kms; and (iv) the adoption of innovative, low cost pavement methods in the state’s MMGSY
program. The key risk to the sustainability of these outcomes stems from the low institutional capacity in the
road sector agencies in terms of staffing and skills. Further strengthening the skills and the staffing in these
agencies is critical to sustain these outcomes and further enhance road sector management in the state.
V. LESSONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
82. Strengthening institutions requires long term engagement and strong government commitment, and
thus, a programmatic approach may be better suited for such projects. As was evident by the Project’s
experience in implementing institutional reforms, strengthening institutional processes, efficiencies, and
capacities, and introducing new ways of doing business can be complex and time consuming. The lack of strong
commitment from the implementing agencies along with changing political priorities can also hinder the
process; this often leads to prioritizing infrastructure improvement, which are more straightforward, over
institutional improvements that can be time consuming to implement and often requires strong ownerships and
champions to execute. A comparative assessment carried out by the World Bank of the performance of road
sector projects in the Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Rajasthan in India highlights that successful
implementation of key reforms in Karnataka and Anhdra Pradesh, such as adopting a road policy framework and
a systematic road asset management approach, can be attributed to strong ownership, holistic approach and
constant learning and innovation illustrated by the state governments. A programmatic approach, which goes
beyond a typical project lifecycle, could help maintain continuous consultations and engagement with the
government agencies to sensitize them to the benefits of institutional improvements and to build strong
commitment over time to implement them.
83. Strong and flexible Bank support is required where the implementing agency and the sector has
significant capacity gaps. The Project was able to address the long delays, safeguards management issues, and
implementation challenges faced in the first few years of the Project and expedite implementation during the
latter part as a result of more handholding and targeted support from the Bank. The flexibility in the level of
Bank support in response to emerging capacity shortfalls was important for the successful implementation of
Project activities. In instances where significant capacity gaps are identified in the implementing agencies, such
support can be built into the Project design at the beginning and options such as Hands-on Expanded
Implementation Support (HEIS) can be explored for both procurement and technical support. Furthermore,
considering the capacity shortfalls identified through the Project, future engagements can focus on improving
the capacity of: (i) implementing agencies in relevant technical specifications, including on climate resilience
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and road safety, to develop quality DPRs, and in supervision and monitoring of civil works; (ii) design consultants
to develop quality specifications and designs; and (iii) small contractors to improve the quality of infrastructure.
84. Synergies from existing ongoing national and state level rural roads programs/ projects should be
leveraged. Based on the experience of rural road engagement at the national level and in other states, the
project design incorporated the lessons learned and was built on the existing programs (PMGSY, MMGSY)
including adoption of prioritization framework of investments, bidding document of PMGSY, three-tier quality
monitoring mechanism, grievance redressal, contracting capacity etc. However, the execution during
implementation period could have also benefitted from leveraging the institutional strengthening (e-Marg,
OMMAS, new technologies) and technology adoption under the national program (PMGSY). These could also
have been complimented with the learnings and results achieved in other states including Rajasthan, Madhya
Pradesh etc.
85. Asset and resilient management practices in the road sector can be strengthened further. The Project
introduced asset and resilient management practices in the road sector. However, there is significant potential
to develop these further through: expanding the pilot AI system to a full-fledged asset management system
which helps prioritize road investments in an evidence-based, systematic approach; establishment of a trained
asset management unit within RWD with adequate fund allocations; implementing the recommendations of the
climate vulnerability assessment and expanding it to critical sections of the road network; development of a
state-level policy or guidelines to integrate climate considerations into network planning, prioritizing, technical
designs and maintenance; and developing institutional capacity on both asset management and climate
resilience in infrastructure.
86. Innovative road rehabilitation methods can bring benefits, but their sustainability need to be monitored
over time. The Project was successful in introducing low-cost pavement methods. While these have contributed
to cost reductions in the Project, their sustainability should be monitored over time based on the climatic
conditions of the state and lifecycle costs, including routine and periodic maintenance.
87. Building trust through close consultations with communities can improve efficiencies in project
implementation. As demonstrated by the experiences from the Janta Darbar initiative, it is clear that regular
consultations with project communities play a key role in fostering trust towards the project and the
implementing agencies. Engaging community members in project activities, promptly addressing their feedback
and concerns, and incorporating their suggestions are essential strategies that not only build trust but also
facilitate smoother and more efficient project implementation. Such participatory approaches can be integrated
into the design of future projects to enhance their effectiveness and community acceptance.
88. The adequacy and appropriateness of technology should be assessed against the specific contexts and
environments in which it is used. A key lesson from the Project’s experience with the use of an app to record
grievances is that when technology is used, particularly involving communities with poor literacy and inadequate
access to technological devices, it is important to ensure that (i) the technology used is tailored to address the
specific requirements of the users, (ii) users are aware and educated in how to use the technological solution,
and (iii) the appropriateness of the use of technology is assessed in the specific context. As was evident from
the Project’s experience with Janta Darbars which promoted more person-person interaction, at times, more
human-oriented solutions can create better results compared to technological solutions.
.
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ANNEX 1. RESULTS FRAMEWORK AND KEY OUTPUTS
A. RESULTS INDICATORS
A.1 PDO Indicators
Objective/Outcome: Increased road connectivity to habitations
Formally Revised Actual Achieved at
Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target
Target Completion
Increased road connectivity Number 60,280.00 62,000.00 61,200.00 61,476.00
to habitations
30-Sep-2016 31-Dec-2022 31-Dec-2022 31-Dec-2023
Comments (achievements against targets):
Indicator description: Defined as a habitation connected by a road constructed to all‐weather standards, including bridges and necessary cross drainage
works but allowing for submergence of some of its sections during floods. Habitation is considered connected when it is formally opened to traffic by RWD.
The actual incremental number of habitations connected has exceeded the formally revised target at Restructuring 2. This is due to the rehabilitation of a
higher number of kms of roads than what was targeted at the restructuring.
Formally Revised Actual Achieved at
Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target
Target Completion
Roads in good and fair Percentage 40.00 50.00 83.00
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condition as a share of total 30-Sep-2016 31-Dec-2022 31-Dec-2023
classified roads
Comments (achievements against targets):
Indicator description: Percentage of the total classified road network in the project area that is in good and fair condition depending on the road surface
and the level of roughness. Classified roads are the roads that have been included in the roads legislation as public roads. Please note that this indicator
requires supplemental information Supplemental Value: Total classified network in the project area (KM) The Supplemental value is the total classified
network in the project area. Classified roads are the roads that have been included in the roads legislation as public roads.
The actual percentage of roads in good and fair condition in the entire state has exceeded the original target. However, as this is beyond the scope of the
Project which covered few districts, the achievement is not entirely attributable to the Project.
Formally Revised Actual Achieved at
Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target
Target Completion
Improved effectiveness of Percentage 0.00 50.00 52.54
project expenditure - Project
roads designed using cost- 30-Sep-2016 31-Dec-2022 31-Dec-2023
effective measures.
Comments (achievements against targets):
Indicator description: These measures are defined in the recently introduced IRC guidelines such as IRC 72, 62 (issued in 2015) and other guidelines based
on the research work done under PMGSY and including climate resilient and environmentally optimized road designs.
The indicator exceeded the target. Selected roads under Batch II and III packages were rehabilitated using cost effective measures such as (i) use of waste
plastic in flexible pavements, and (ii) use of panel concrete in rigid pavements.
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Formally Revised Actual Achieved at
Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target
Target Completion
Pilot AI based system in Number 0.00 1.00 1.00
districts within the state
07-Feb-2022 31-Dec-2022 31-Dec-2023
Comments (achievements against targets):
The pilot has inspected 1000km of roads the Vaishali district using the system and the RWD is planning to expand this system to the entire network. It
should be noted that the development of the tool was funded by state funds, and not by project funds. Therefore, this output cannot be directly attributed
to the Project.
A.2 Intermediate Results Indicators
Component: Rural Roads Improvement
Formally Revised Actual Achieved at
Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target
Target Completion
Roads constructed, Rural Kilometers 0.00 2,500.00 2,000.00 2,200.00
30-Sep-2016 31-Dec-2022 31-Dec-2022 31-Dec-2023
Comments (achievements against targets):
Indicator description: Kilometers of rural roads constructed under the project. Rural roads are roads functionally classified in various countries below Trunk
or Primary, Secondary or Link roads, or sometimes Tertiary roads. Such roads are often described as rural access, feeder, market, agricultural, irrigation,
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forestry or community roads. Typically, rural roads connect small urban centers/towns/settlements of less than 2,000 to 5,000 inhabitants to each other or
to higher classes of road, market towns and urban centers.
The actual number of km of rural roads rehabilitated has exceeded the formally revised target.
Formally Revised Actual Achieved at
Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target
Target Completion
Improved quality of built Percentage 0.00 85.00 85.00
Infrastructure - Project roads
delivered with satisfactory 30-Sep-2016 31-Dec-2022 31-Dec-2023
quality certified through
independent quality reviews
Comments (achievements against targets):
Indicator description: The design and construction standards are prescribed under MMGSY guidelines and relevant IRC documents. The quality monitoring
for designs and construction standards will be undertaken by independent technical examiners/SQMs. While all the roads have to meet the prescribed
quality standards, there might be some poorly performing contracts due to reasons such as remote location and low capacity of the contractors, in such
cases, contract remedies will be applied.
RWD reports that 85% of the roads rehabilitated under the project have been delivered with satisfactory quality. A technical audit carried out in sample
roads identified some shortfalls and gaps and it is expected that these will be rectified and a compliance report will be submitted to the Bank.
Formally Revised Actual Achieved at
Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target
Target Completion
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Direct project beneficiaries Number 0.00 1,200,000.00 744,499.00 838,240.00
30-Sep-2016 31-Dec-2022 31-Dec-2022 31-Dec-2023
Female beneficiaries Percentage 0.00 48.00 48.00
Comments (achievements against targets):
Indicator description: Direct beneficiaries are people or groups who directly derive benefits from an intervention.
The actual number of direct beneficiaries of improved roads have exceeded the formally revised target at Restructuring 2. This is due to the rehabilitation
of a higher number of kms of roads than what was targeted at the restructuring.
Formally Revised Actual Achieved at
Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target
Target Completion
Road Safety improvement Kilometers 0.00 2,000.00 204.00
scheme related audits
undertaken on priority roads 30-Sep-2016 31-Dec-2022 31-Dec-2023
Comments (achievements against targets):
Indicator description: Number of km of project roads on which road safety audits have been undertaken.
The state's road safety audit guidelines stipulate that road safety audits are to be done on roads longer than 5km. Therefore, road safety audits have been
done only on 31 Project roads (adding to 204 kms) which are longer than 5km. As such, the indicator falls short of the target.
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Component: Asset Management and Institutional Effectiveness
Formally Revised Actual Achieved at
Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target
Target Completion
Length of roads subject to Kilometers 4,600.00 10,000.00 45,420.00
planned maintenance
contracting 30-Sep-2016 31-Dec-2022 31-Dec-2023
Comments (achievements against targets):
Indicator description: Number of km of rural roads which are under either performance based maintenance contracts or other innovative maintenance
contracts.
The actual number of km of rural roads in the state under performance based maintenance contracts has exceeded the original target. This falls within the
state's road maintenance policy. Given that this indicator considers roads beyond the scope of the Project, its achievement cannot be fully attributed to the
Project.
Formally Revised Actual Achieved at
Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target
Target Completion
RWD staff received at least Number 0.00 400.00 200.00 415.00
six (6) weeks of professional
training during the entire 30-Sep-2016 31-Dec-2022 31-Dec-2022 31-Dec-2023
project duration.
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Comments (achievements against targets):
Indicator description: The professional training is to be provided in specified subject defined under the Human Resources Professional Development
Strategy.
Various trainings were carried out for RWD staff under the Project and both the revised and original targets have been exceeded.
Formally Revised Actual Achieved at
Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target
Target Completion
Effective Citizen Feedback Percentage 0.00 85.00 100.00
Mechanism
30-Sep-2016 31-Dec-2022 31-Dec-2023
Comments (achievements against targets):
Indicator description: Percentage of feedback from citizens on project roads received on mobile app (“Meri Sadak”) and through other means (e‐mail, post,
etc.) responded to within 30 days.
The actual percentage of feedback responded to within 30 days have exceeded the original target.
Formally Revised Actual Achieved at
Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target
Target Completion
Network level climate Kilometers 0.00 2,000.00 500.00 500.00
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vulnerability assessment 30-Sep-2016 31-Dec-2022 31-Dec-2022 31-Dec-2023
undertaken with special
focus on floods
Comments (achievements against targets):
Indicator description: Network level vulnerability assessment undertaken on specified km of road network, with special focus on floods as part of
Component 2.
The network vulnerability assessment on 500km of rural roads were carried out in line with the revised target of Restructuring 2.
Formally Revised Actual Achieved at
Indicator Name Unit of Measure Baseline Original Target
Target Completion
Gender-based capacity Number 0.00 30.00 18.00 91.00
enhancement
30-Sep-2016 31-Dec-2022 31-Dec-2022 31-Dec-2023
Comments (achievements against targets):
Indicator description: Number of training workshops for youth on laboratory and field investigations, engineering designs, and other similar tasks, and
gender‐based skill enhancement for construction workers and small contractors.
91 female employees of RWD have been trained exceeding the formally revised target.
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B. KEY OUTPUTS BY COMPONENT
Objective/Outcome 1: Improved rural road connectivity in project districts
1. Increased road connectivity to habitations
2. Roads in good and fair condition as a share of total classified roads
Outcome Indicators
3. Improved effectiveness of project expenditure - Project roads
designed using cost-effective measures
1. Roads constructed, Rural
2. Improved quality of built Infrastructure - Project roads delivered
with satisfactory quality certified through independent quality reviews
Intermediate Results Indicators
3. Direct project beneficiaries
4. Road Safety improvement scheme related audits undertaken on
priority roads
Key Outputs by Component 1. Roads rehabilitated
(linked to the achievement of the Objective/Outcome 1) 2. Effective community engagement
Objective/Outcome 2: Enhanced management of roads in Bihar
Outcome Indicators 1. Pilot AI based system in districts within the state
1. Length of roads subject to planned maintenance contracting
2. RWD staff received at least six (6) weeks of professional training
during the entire
Intermediate Results Indicators 3. Effective Citizen Feedback Mechanism
4. Network level climate vulnerability assessment undertaken with
special focus on floods
5. Gender-based capacity enhancement
Key Outputs by Component 1. Network resilience assessment
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(linked to the achievement of the Objective/Outcome 2) 2. Innovative cost-effective read rehabilitation methods used
3. Road safety checklists
4. Capacity building
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ANNEX 2. BANK LENDING AND IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT/SUPERVISION
A. TASK TEAM MEMBERS
Name Role
Preparation
Ashok Kumar Task Team Leader(s)
Sangeeta Patel Procurement Specialist(s)
Puneet Kapoor Financial Management Specialist
Aruna Aysha Das Team Member
Ross S. Pavis Team Member
Victor Dato Team Member
Sangeeta Kumari Social Specialist
Neha Pravash Kumar Mishra Social Specialist
Deepak Man Singh Shrestha Team Member
Reenu Aneja Team Member
Supervision/ICR
James Robert Markland Task Team Leader(s)
Sangeeta Patel Procurement Specialist(s)
Arvind Prasad Mantha Financial Management Specialist
Aruna Aysha Das Team Member
N. S. Srinivas Team Member
Radha Narayan Procurement Team
Neha Pravash Kumar Mishra Environmental Specialist
Anindo Kumar Chatterjee Social Specialist
Tema Alawari Kio-Michael Team Member
Michael Tessitore Team Member
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Madhushree Banerjee Team Member
B. STAFF TIME AND COST
Staff Time and Cost
Stage of Project Cycle
No. of staff weeks US$ (including travel and consultant costs)
Preparation
FY16 26.824 140,153.73
FY17 47.506 256,949.55
FY18 4.541 16,138.80
FY19 .595 2,071.54
FY20 .512 2,020.74
Total 79.98 417,334.36
Supervision/ICR
FY16 0 205.64
FY18 20.555 134,225.21
FY19 25.845 180,763.67
FY20 35.638 191,607.18
FY21 44.081 210,427.18
FY22 40.291 197,547.91
FY23 17.866 105,135.22
FY24 11.069 33,587.65
Total 195.35 1,053,499.66
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ANNEX 3. PROJECT COST BY COMPONENT
Amount at Approval Actual at Project Percentage of Approval
Components
(US$M) Closing (US$M) (%)
Rural Roads Improvement 320.00 211.00 65.93
Asset Management and
15.00 3.00 20.00
Institutional Effectiveness
Total 335.00 214.00 63.88
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ANNEX 4. EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS
Summary of Results and Conclusions from the Ex-Post Economic Analysis at the End of Project
1. Economic evaluation was carried out for completed upgrading of gravel roads to paved roads with
necessary cross-drainage works under Bihar Rural Roads Project (BRRP) India covering 2,200 km length.
In the analysis, the ‘with project’ improvement alternative was compared with the ‘without project’
alternative of minimum maintenance of the existing road: “Do Minimum” i.e., (a) Base case (Without
improvements and with annual “Do Minimum” maintenance), and (b) Improvement Alternative (with
improvement/upgradation and annual “routine maintenance” supplemented by a periodical maintenance
at six-year intervals). The results of the economic analysis conducted are summarized in Table 4.1 below
and are based on: (i) final completion costs, (ii) implementation period; and (iii) observed traffic growth
rate during the implementation period and their sensitivity analysis after 20 percent reduction in benefits.
The ex-post EIRR is higher than the Economic Opportunity Cost of Capital (EOCC) of 6 percent.
Table 4.1. Results of the Economic Analysis
Switching
EIRR MIRR
Sl. No. Sensitivity Scenario NPV @6% INR Million Value (SV)
(Percentage) (Percentage)
(Percentage)
1 Base Case 15.9 10.6 13,527
20 percent decrease
2 13.2 9.4 8,899 58
in project benefit
EIRR - Economic Internal Rate of Return
MIRR - Modified Internal Rate of Return
NPV- Net Present Value discounted @6%
2. The end-of-project EIRR of 15.9 percent, indicates that the completed project is economically
viable with decreased construction cost, lower traffic growth and project coverage, and longer
implementation period. The NPV discounted at 6 percent is positive. Considering a 20 percent reduction
in yearly benefits, the EIRR is 13.2 percent. The completion stage EIRR and NPV are slightly higher, as
shown in the Table 4.2 below. Tables 4.3, 4.4, and 4.5 provide additional information relevant to the
economic analysis.
Table 4.2. Comparison of Economic Analysis Results
Details Year Total Road length EIRR (%) ENPV discounted at 6% (INR
(Km) Million)
At appraisal 2016 2,500 15.1% 13,490
At completion 2024 2,200 15.9% 13,527
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Table 4.3. Comparison of Project Cost at Appraisal and Completion
Detail At appraisal (2016) On completion (2024) Change (Percentage)
Project coverage (Km) 2500 2200 -12.00
Cost / Km (US$)1 1,04,478 99,195 -5.06
US$1 = 67 INR (at 2016 cost)
Table 4.4. Traffic Growth Rates During 2016 - 2023
Vehicle Category Average daily traffic (No. of vehicles)
At appraisal (2016) At completion (2023) CGR (2016 - 2023)
(Percentage)
Motorised Vehicle
M/C 54 117 11.5
Car 22 33 5.7
Tractor 52 50 -0.7
Bus 0 8 74.8
Truck 9 4 -12.7
Total 138 211 6.2
Non-motorised vehicles
Cycle 73 111 6.3
Cycle Rickshaw 9 8 -0.9
Animal Cart 20 12 -6.7
Pedestrian 100 150 6.0
Total 201 282 4.9
Source: Nodal Officer, MMGSY, Rural Works Department, Government of Bihar, 2016 & 2024.
Table 4.5. Comparison of Traffic Growth Rates During 2016 - 2023
Annual growth Rate (Percentage)
Vehicle Type
Observed growth rate Estimated at appraisal
Bus 74.8 7.0
Minibus 74.8 7.0
Two wheelers 11.5 7.0
Car 5.7 7.0
Trucks -12.7 7.0
Tractors -0.7 7.0
Average 6.2 7.0
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3. Conclusions. The above results show the economic feasibility indicators under normal and
adverse sensitivity scenarios, including significant decrease in cost, for the project are more than the
required minimum EIRR of 6 percent. Also, these base analysis and sensitivity are unlikely to happen as:
(i) traffic is expected to grow to accompany the current economic growth; (ii) there is no uncertainty on
the cost of the works as all the contracts are completed; and (iii) VOCs are unlikely to be reduced in view
of the past trend for the price of inputs such as fuel, lubricants, tires, and salaries. Also, the estimated
economic feasibility results are on the conservative side as qualitative project benefits like tourism
development, increased road safety, better road environment are not considered in this analysis.
Summary of Economic Analysis at Appraisal
4. At the time of appraisal of the project, economic analysis was carried out for the project with the
coverage of 2,500 km with flexible pavement improvement option within the roads. The summary of the
EIRR for the project is presented in Table 4.6.
Table 4.6. Results of the Economic Analysis at Appraisal (2016)
Improvement Capital Cost
Project Total Length Km EIRR (Percentage)
proposal US$ Million
Upgrade to
BRRP 2,500 261.19 15.1
paved road
Approach and Methodology for the Ex-Post Economic Analysis
5. The economic analysis at appraisal was updated for the ex-post economic analysis with data on
completion of works. The details are presented in Table 4.7.
Table 4.7: Details of Completed Project Roads
Details Completed
No. of Roads 806
Total Length Km 2,200
Districts covered 10.00
No. of villages connected 1,196
Average Road Length (Km/Road) 2.73
Average habitations Covered - 2016 (No.)/Road 1.48
Average population Covered - 2016 (No.)/Road 1,022
Total Population Coverage (2016) 8,23,732
Source: Nodal Officer, MMGSY, Rural Works Department, Government of Bihar, 2024.
Project cost
6. Construction Program. The completed construction program for BRRP is summarized in Table 4.8.
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Table 4.8: Construction Program (Project Phasing on Completion)
Year Disbursed Project Cost (US$ Million)
Bank funding7 Govt. of Bihar Total %
2017-18 37.85 16.22 54.07 24.8%
2018-19 19.81 8.49 28.31 13.0%
2019-20 6.97 2.99 9.96 4.6%
2020-21 19.96 8.55 28.51 13.1%
2021-22 37.33 16.00 53.32 24.4%
2022-23 30.83 13.21 44.04 20.2%
Total 152.75 65.46 218.21 100.0%
Source: Nodal Officer, MMGSY, Rural Works Department, Government of Bihar, 2024.
US$ 1= 67 INR (2016)
7. Components of Cost. the economic costs were computed by multiplying the financial cost by a
factor of 0.85, as presented in Table 4.9.
Table 4.9: Financial and Economic Costs of the completed Project
Project Length (Km) Completed Project cost Economic Cost
INR INR INR
US$ /Km US$ /Km
Million Million/Km Million/Km
BRRP 2,199.79 14,619.93 6.65 0.10 5.65 0.08
US$ 1 = 67 INR (at 2016 cost)
8. Maintenance Cost. Maintenance works considered in the analysis include annual routine
maintenance and periodic maintenance. Maintenance costs for gravel roads (without project scenario)
and paved roads (with project scenario) were determined based on discussions with BRRDA officials and
NRRDA guidelines8, and were used to estimate the incremental maintenance costs at appraisal and for
the ICR.
Estimating the Benefits
I. Traffic related Benefits
9. The 6.2 percent annual growth observed during the implementation period (2016-2023) and the
7 percent annual growth during the operation period from 2024 estimated at appraisal were used for the
ex-post economic analysis. The ‘generated traffic’ due to the proposed road development estimated at
appraisal was retained for the ex-post economic analysis.
7 The analysis was carried out with the assumption of full disbursement by completion of the ICR.
8 Unit rates for maintenance are based on the inputs from MPRRDA and NRRDA.
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Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
10. The savings in the VOC and passenger time value for each vehicle category were adapted from
Indian Roads Congress (IRC) guidelines (2009)9 with suitable update to 2016, as given in Table 4.10. Using
these unit rates and the projected traffic, VOC and travel time cost were estimated for both ‘without
project scenario’ for gravel roads and ‘with project scenario’ for paved roads. The differences between
these two scenarios were considered as traffic related benefits. For benefit calculations, existing traffic
and generated traffic were treated separately. For generated traffic, 50 percent of the VOC and time cost
for the improved situation were treated as project benefits.
Table 4.10: Unit rates for calculating VOC and Travel Time for Rural Roads (at 2016 prices)
Value of Time: INR/vehicle km Vehicle Operating Cost: INR/vehicle km
Vehicle Type Earthen Gravel Gravel
BT Road1 Earthen Road2 BT Road1
Road2 Road2 Road2
M/C 6.4 4.4 2.47 6.9 4.5 2.51
Car 39.2 26.2 19.64 17.8 12.1 7.23
Tractor 2.5 1.9 1.34 30.7 24.9 21.30
Bus 67.6 56.4 33.90 41.7 33.6 27.55
Truck 14.1 10.4 7.55 33.5 26.0 22.07
Note:
1. Unit vales suggested in Indian Roads Congress, SP 30, 2009 updated to 2016.
2. Proportional unit costs of BT road to gravel and earthen roads from other studies used to arrive at unit rates for
earthen and gravel roads for 2016.
II. Carbon Emission Reduction Benefits
The improved road surface from gravel roads to paved roads will result in increased travel speeds and
reduced fuel reduction for the motorized vehicles using the project road network will lead to a reduction
fuel consumption and in carbon emissions. Assuming an average roughness estimate of 8 for the ‘without
project’ engineered-gravel roads, and a roughness estimate of 4 for the ‘with project’ paved road
surfaces, the related fuel consumption quantity, carbon emission rate (0.0023 ton/ litre), carbon cost (US$
36 per ton in 2016)10 and the traffic, annual carbon emissions for the project under the ‘without’ and the
‘with’ project scenarios were estimated for the project network of 2,200 km. The resultant carbon
emission is estimated to decrease to 0.11 million tons during the analysis period (2017-2036).
9 Manual on Economic Evaluation of Highway Projects in India (Second Revision), Indian Roads Congress, 2009 (IRC SP 30-2009)
10 Estimated based on’ Guidance notes on shadow price of carbon in economic analysis November 14, 2017, World Bank .
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The World Bank
Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
ANNEX 5. BORROWER’S COMMENTS
Following comments were received from the borrower on May 24, 2024.
Sq. Section of the ICR Comments from the Borrower
1. Datasheet - Financing The World bank Financing will be IDA-5938-IN
In addition to Actual Disbursed till date (146.02) a claim of 2.10 Mn (Oct to Dec 23)
has been submitted to the bank which was accepted by the Bank. Request to
2. Datasheet - Financing
consider it in ICR. Accordingly figures will change at Page 2 and at other places as
well.
The revised amount of Borrower/Recipient will be 65,600,000 (30 % of
3. Datasheet - Financing 153,000,000). Accordingly, Total Project Cost will change. (Page 2) Moreover,
please refer Table 4.8 at Page 46-47 in which the Total Project Cost is different.
Figure 1. Theory of Change: Under Outputs – Network level climate vulnerability
4. Section I.A. – Theory of change
assessment undertaken – reduced from 2000 to 500 km. (Page 8)
5. Section I.A. – Theory of change MSME study also to be included under Outcomes. (Page 8)
Section I.A. Components – It will be 208.612 if the revised amount of Borrower is revised from 67,000,000 to
6.
Component 1 completion cost 65,600,000 US dollars.
Section I.A. Components – Will it be 3.37 (28.05 Crore of TA Component/8.319 = 3.37) or has been kept 3
7.
Component 2 completion cost considering different applicable dollar rates.
Section I.B. Significant changes Reasons also need to be highlighted like prevailing pandemic and flash floods
8. during implementation – being faced by various districts as communicated vide RWD letter dated
Restructuring 2 26.11.2021.
Or it is from 320 to 218.60 due to the cancellation of IDA funds and the reduction
in counterpart funding which included Component 2 as well. As per the Partial
Section I.B. Significant changes Cancellation Letter of the World Bank dated 22.03.2024, 158 US Millions covered
9. during implementation – Revised all "Goods, Works, non consulting services, consultants' services, Training &
components, Component 1 cost Workshops, and Operating Costs for the Project". There was no separate
reduction proposed exclusively for Asset Management and Institutional
Effectiveness.
Section I.B. Significant changes
10. during implementation – Revised In line of our comments on a, (i) needs to be removed.
components, Component 2 cost
Section I.B. Significant changes Post reduction of 50 Mn on account of COVID, the balance available was sufficient
11. during implementation – Rationale enough to take up road sections only; this is why 25 innovative bridges and 5
for changes model roads were dropped.
RWD was clear about the scope. Except the activities which were dropped from
Section I.B. Significant changes
the scope, other activities such as trainings and capacity building were
12. during implementation – Rationale
continuously happening in addition to the activities agreed to be taken up under
for changes
Component 2.
Section II.B. Efficacy – PDO 2, Table
13. 3, RWD staff received at least six (6) To be revised as 415.The detailed Break-up Sheet is enclosed for ready reference.
weeks of professional training
Section II.B. Efficacy – PDO 2, Table
To be revised as 91.In the year 2022, 73 new female Asst Engineers were inducted
14. 3, Gender-based capacity
in RWD who went through various trainings. ( 18+73=91)
enhancement
Section II.B. Efficacy – Justification of How can the Project achieve original targets when it has been reduced in
15.
overall efficacy rating (original Restructuring 2. The efficacy of PDO 2 of original project should be more than
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The World Bank
Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
project) Modest because Project made significant achievements in training and network
level vulnerability assessment. As such, the efficacy of the original project should
be rated higher than the modest.
Section II.B. Efficacy – Justification of The Project achieved the targets after Restructuring 2; as such it should be rated
16. overall efficacy rating (restructured more than Modest for PDO2. The efficacy rating of the restructured project should
project) be more than Substantial.
Section II.D. Justification of overall It is not acceptable. It needs to be relooked based on the ratings of PDO 1 and
17.
outcome rating – Rating of MS PDO 2 for Original Project and Restructured Project.
Refer Page 3 of the document. It is Moderately Unsatisfactory in sl. no. 7 to 11
Section II.D. Justification of overall
18. which is primarily the covid period. If considered Moderately Satisfactory in
outcome rating – Split rating, Table 6
Original Project, Final Outcome rating would be Moderately Satisfactory.
Section II.E. Other outcomes and
19. To be revised as 91 female staff of RWD (22 percent of total 415 staff trained)
impacts - Gender
Section III.B Key factors during
The narrative may be suitably modified as the language speaks more about the
20. implementation – Capacity
negative aspects which is not true in general.
constraints
Section III.B Key factors during
21. The Project Director was available at all times.
implementation – Staff shortages
Section III.B Key factors during
The Single road tenders in Batch I were carried out in consultation with the Word
22. implementation – Small value
bank Team. Later in Batch II & III, the roads were tendered in Packages.
contract packaging
Delays are attributable to the World bank as well, since there was no clarity in
Section III.B Key factors during
terms of type of designs to be adopted to fulfill the optimization requirement
23. implementation – Procurement
from environment perspective for 700 km of Batch III roads till June 2019. Please
delays
refer the Aid Memoire of June 2019 in this regard.
The progress under Component II was reported in the respective Quarterly
Section IV.A. Quality of M&E – M&E Progress Reports to the extent activities taken up under the head minus the
24.
implementation activities associated with RAMS which was mutually agreed and later replaced by
a pilot project.
Section IV.A. Quality of M&E –
25. Justification of overall rating of Should be rated higher.
quality of M&E
Generally in Batch II & III roads, Packages at block level were formed and
accordingly bids were invited. There would have been implementation issues
Section IV.A. Bank performance –
26. associated with larger packages owning to the constraints related to the
Quality at entry, risks
contracting capacity within the state. Hence, the packages were formed in view of
receiving competitive response from the available contractors.
Annex 1. Results framework –
Regarding the technical audit rectification and compliance - The compliance
27. Intermediate indicators, Improved
report has been already shared. (Page 33)
quality of built infrastructure
Annex 2.B – Task team members at The names of Ashok Kumar, Justin Rungi, Michael Tessitore, Madhushree Banerjee
28.
supervision are missing from the Supervision List. Please incorporate. (Page 38)
29. Annex 3. Project cost by component Annex 3. Project Cost By Component needs to be updated. (Page 42)
Annex 4. Efficiency Analysis – Table
30. Please check. May kindly be rechecked.
4.4 CGR% of Trucks
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The World Bank
Bihar Rural Roads Project (P155522)
ANNEX 6. SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
1. Financing Agreement, Bihar Rural Roads Project, Credit No. 5938-IN, between India and International
Development Association, May 29, 2017, including Amendments.
2. Project Appraisal Document, Bihar Rural Roads Project, Report No. PAD2150, including subsequent
restructuring papers.
3. Aide Memoires and Management Letters of the Preparation and Implementation Supervision Missions from
2016 to 2023, The World Bank.
4. Implementation Status and Results Reports, Bihar Rural Roads Project, Sequence Nos. 1–14, 2017–2023.
5. Country Partnership Framework for India for the Period 2018–22, World Bank, Report No. 126667-IN, July 25,
2018.
6. Strategy for New India @75, NITI Aayog, Government of India.
7. Project progress reports and mid-term review report, Rural Works Department, Government of Bihar.
8. Social Impact Evaluation of BRRP, Rural Works Department, Government of Bihar.
9. Case Study on Benefits to Village Connected by the Project Road under MMGSY, Rural Works Department,
Government of Bihar.
10. Integrated Transport and Logistics Service Framework, Rural Works Department, Government of Bihar.
11. Network Level Climate Vulnerability Assessment Report, (Deloitte on behalf of) Rural Works Department,
Government of Bihar.
12. Technical audit reports.
13. Comparative Assessment of State’s Initiatives: Case of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh & Telangana and Rajasthan,
World Bank.
14. Road Sector Modernization Plan, RWD.
15. Study on Institutional Assessment for PMGSY in Bihar, The World Bank-GoB
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